The government’s psychologists will be resorting to industrial action as they run out of patience with what they say is the lack of structures and increasingly long waiting lists brought about by the authorities’ lack of interest in the sector.
“Patients have to wait for a year, sometimes more... There is no vision for psychological services in Malta... Our profession and union deserve more respect,” said Malta Union of Professional Psychologists’ president Bernard Caruana.
The directives will be issued after a meeting with psychologists scheduled for Friday and may include a reduction of services, he said.
The meeting was being called for two main reasons. Firstly, the government, which employs about 22 psychologists, was dragging its feet over the revision of the 1996 sectoral agreement.
Secondly, the three government ministries that employ psychologists – health, home affairs and education – are not respecting the current agreement, the union says. Some psychologists are being employed on short-term definite contracts leading to job uncertainty.
Negotiations to revise the agreement started in 2009. Initially, regular meetings were held, however, the meetings eventually stopped being held regularly and no progress was made, Mr Caruana complained.
“We want a discussion that leads us somewhere... we want a schedule of meetings and not one every now and again.”
He added that, after the press conference was called, the Finance Ministry scheduled a meeting for March 14. The union will not be waiting till then to issue the directives, he said. Mr Caruana said the revision was important to ensure that patients were given a better service. The union was asking for improved structures that would allow for coordination across the different government departments.
“There have been cases when the same patient was being seen by three divisions due to lack of communication,” he said. Better management would help reduce waiting lists.
He said the union also wanted better consultation and the opportunity for continuous professional development.
When asked for a reaction, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry said: “The government has put forward a proposal which is presently being discussed with the union, in which it is addressing the needs of psychologists working within different remits. A further meeting has already been agreed with the union to continue this discussion in view of reaching an agreement.”